Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to R Claus.
BAL was performed to differentiate cases of sarcoidosis and bronchial carcinoma. Significant differences in the cell differentiation are stated. An increase of spontaneous interleukin production seems to be another sign of activity of sarcoidosis.
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The active kinesitherapy is an essential constituent of the whole rehabilitation process of patients with infarction. Despite the decrease due to the physiology of ageing and the progression of the coronary disease the physical functional capacity can be kept relatively constant also over many years. Thus the quality of the patients' lives can be favourably influenced. Whether the life expectancy alone can be improved at long date by the active conditioning, further on remains unclarified. Aimed differentiated medication, psychosocial measures, the consideration of secondary bronchopulmonary diseases and the well-timed selection for the coronary-surgical intervention must be included into the process of complex rehabilitation of patients with myocardial infarction. In these cases diagnostics and therapy of the somatic risk factors must particularly be taken into consideration during the whole process of rehabilitation in order to decrease the progressing of the basic disease.
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The investigation of steroids in compartments of the genital tract of boars revealed that in the tubular fluid a pattern apparently exists which is unique in this compartment. It is characterized by high concentrations of unconjugated testosterone (35 ng/ml) and even higher amounts of oestradiol-17 beta (42.6 ng/ml) whereas in other compartments oestrone is the predominant oestrogen. At least in the ejaculate half of the total amount of oestrogens is bound to sperms and it is concluded that sperms act as a carrier for oestrogens. The accessory sex glands contribute to ejaculate concentrations to a varying degree (unconjugated testosterone 55%, conjugated testosterone 20%, unconjugated oestrogens 22%, conjugated oestrogens 12%) as could mainly be demonstrated by vasectomy with and without administration of hCG. Increasing the frequencies of ejaculations (up to three times a day) shows that the steroid transfer into the ejaculate is a rapid process.
Side effects of both hypoosmotic and ammonium chloride-mediated hemolysis were compared looking for cellular integrity of human peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Recovery and viability of mononuclear cells significantly declined only following water treatment. Cell loss by lysis of non-erythrocyte cells (monitored by 51Cr release) preferentially occurred in the lymphocyte population resulting in a relative enrichment of monocytes (identified by peroxidase and esterase staining as well as phagocytosis of fluorescent latex particles). Consequences of this shifted monocyte/lymphocyte ratio for immunological tests are obvious. Necessity of red cell lysis and disadvantages referred especially to NH4Cl-induced white cell functional losses are outlined.
In the wild pig mating activity is seasonal. The main breeding period is in late autumn but a second period may occur around April. It is known from other species that seasonal variations in breeding activity are mainly regulated by photoperiod. In the domestic pig seasonal influences on prolificacy still exist: for example, AI boars not only show decreased steroid synthesis, sperm counts and libido in summer compared with the optima which occur in winter but also a biphasic pattern with a transient increase in spring. In cyclic sows ovarian function may be affected with anoestrus mainly in summer and occasionally in February/March. Additionally ovulation rate may be lower in summer and the duration of oestrus prolonged compared with that in late autumn and winter. In consequence the interval from weaning to oestrus is prolonged in summer and mating during this season leads to lower conception rates and slightly smaller litters. Light programmes which extend the daily light period to a constant 15-16 h seem to be ineffective in improving reproductive characteristics of the sow but stimulate the sucking frequency of piglets and increase survival of piglets with a low birthweight. Simulation, in summer, of the decreasing photoperiod (naturally occurring in autumn) stimulates the reproductive characteristics of AI boars, optimizing testicular steroid production, libido and semen composition. Similarly, a programme of decreasing light (20 min decrease/week) from May to August removed the seasonal increase (June-August) of the weaning-to-oestrus interval which was 5.7 days (compared with 23.6 days for the controls). An interaction between photoperiod and puberty attainment seems to exist for male and female pigs. Further experiments with appropriate light programmes, however, are necessary to clarify this interaction.
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The influence of season on testicular steroid production as a parameter of testicular function has been studied in a wild boar. Semen was collected once weekly while it served the dummy. In seminal plasma concentrations of the following steroids were determined by radioimmunoassay: unconjugated testosterone, conjugated testosterone, unconjugated total oestrogens, conjugated total oestrogens and 5 alpha-androst-16-en-3-one ('boar-taint steroid'). All steroids showed a clear seasonal pattern with highest concentrations in autumn and early winter and low levels from January to July. Maxima during the rutting season were 10-25 times greater than average values out of season. During a 2-month-period (mid-July until mid-September) libido was abolished and the wild boar refused to mount the dummy. These results indicate that the seasonal variation in testicular steroid production by the wild boar, regulated by photoperiod, are similar to those of the domestic boar.
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Hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (HSD) activity was determined spectrophotometrically on homogenates of the pronephros, the opisthonephros, and the gonads of metamorphosing, immature, and mature adult male and female brook lampreys (Lampetra planeri Bloch), employing pregnenolone, dehydroepiandrosterone, androsterone, epiandrosterone, and 3 beta,17 beta-dihydroxy-5 alpha-androstane as substrates and NAD or NADP as coenzymes in October, December, February, and April. With NADP a higher HSD-dependent HSD activity was detected in presumed adrenocortical tissue (PAT) homogenates with pregnenolone and 3 beta,17 beta-dihydroxy-5 alpha-androstane and in gonad homogenates only with 3 beta,17 beta-dihydroxy-5 alpha-androstane. With 3 beta,17 beta-dihydroxy-5 alpha-androstane as substrate the highest enzyme activities were measured in PAT and gonad homogenates from animals of all investigated life stages. A varying intensity of HSD activity in the examined tissue homogenates probably dependent on stages of the individual development was observed.
Unconjugated testosterone (T), 5a-androst-16-en-3-one (delta-16), dihydrotestosterone (DHT), unconjugated (u Oe) and conjugated oestrogens (c Oe) were determined weekly in the peripheral blood plasma and seminal plasma of 8 boars for a period of 15 months. Four of the boars were kept under natural daylength fluctuations (8-17 h), and 4 boars on a light programme which shifted these fluctuations by half a year. In peripheral plasma of all boars the highest concentrations were found for c Oe (17 ng/ml) followed by delta-16 (7.3), T (2.2) DHT (0.75) and u Oe (0.24). In seminal plasma of all boars (with an average volume of 172 ml) the highest concentrations were again found for c Oe (5.9 ng/ml) followed by delta-16 (1.1), u Oe (0.73), T (0.28) and DHT (0.1). This shows that u Oe reach higher concentrations in seminal plasma than in blood plasma. In boars under the influence of natural daylight steroids fluctuated with season. Maximum concentrations were present from October till December. Minimum concentrations were about 1/10 of the maximum concentrations. All steroids measured in blood and semen were similarly affected and all were highly correlated. In boars on an artificial light programme the off-season depression during the summer was completely restored. This indicates that daylight fluctuations are the main reason for seasonal changes of testicular function in the domestic boar.
By immunization of rabbits with discelectrophoretically purified rubredoxin-reductase from Ac. calcoaceticus an antiserum against this enzyme was prepared. The antiserum was monospecifical to a diaphoretic activity, which had a RF-value identical with the rubredoxin-reductase-RF value. It has been shown by discelectrophoresis, immunoelectrophoresis, OUCHTERLONY technique and kinetic investigations that crude extracts of bacteria grown on C16, malate, succinate or acetate contain rubredoxin-reductase. By the LAURELL technique we demonstrated that the amount of the enzyme is nearly independent of the carbon source. There are only differences during the different growth phases.
In view of the development of a L-carnitine deficiency, the metabolism of L-carnitine and structure-related trimethylammonium compounds was studied in Salmonella typhimurium LT2 by means of thin-layer chromatography (TLC). L-Carnitine, crotonobetaine and acetyl-L-carnitine stimulated the anaerobic growth in a complex medium significantly. The stimulation depended on the formation of gamma-butyrobetaine. The reduction of L-carnitine proceeded in two steps: (1) Dehydration of the L-carnitine to crotonobetaine, (2) hydrogenation of crotonobetaine to gamma-butyrobetaine. The reduction of crotonobetaine was responsible for the growth stimulation. Terminal electron acceptors of the anaerobic respiration such as nitrate and trimethylamine N-oxide, but not fumarate, suppressed the catabolism of L-carnitine completely. Glucose fermentation, too, inhibited the reduction of L-carnitine but optimal growth with a high carnitine catabolism was achieved by D-ribose. The esters of carnitine with medium- and long-chain fatty acids inhibited the growth considerably because of their detergent properties.
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